The present invention relates generally to a graduated measuring device, and more specifically, but not by way of limitation, to a group of graduated rulers rotatably attached to teach the interrelationship between fractional measurements.
Several prior art designs exist that attempt to use a single device to provide multiple graduated measurement lengths. Some of these prior art designs have attempted to link multiple measurement length elements within a single measurement devices to distinguish and teach the difference in the varying incremental lengths. However, most of these prior art devices fail to adequately demonstrate the inter relationship between the difference in the incremental measurement lengths of the elements of these prior art devices.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 569,358 issued to Sommerfeldt provides a group of rulers held together through a channel and a pintle. Each ruler has different graduated marking characteristics. However, due to the construction of the ""358 patent, a user of the ""358 patent experiences great difficulty in trying to compare in a single viewing plain the difference in the graduated measurement lengths.
Other prior art attempts to solve this problem have also failed. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,778,390 issued to Marans provides a base with several scales attached to the base apart from one another. The ""390 patent fails to provide an adequate method for properly comparing the incremental measurements in different scales at the same time. Since the individual scales of the ""390 patent are fixed to the base, the individual rulers cannot be positioned to teach incremental differences between the two graduated measurements on the individual scales.
Other attempts, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,881,469 issued to Monck have attempted to use transparent sheets to overlap a base portion. The base portion and transparent sheets have contained graduated measurements in attempt to show the relationship between the various graduated measurements. This device can be cumbersome and hard to read due to the exact overlaid nature of the base and sheets comprising the device. As such, as an educational tool the difficulty in reading the device deters from its effectiveness.
Thus there is a need in the art for a measuring device for teaching incremental measurements.
The present invention provides a measuring device for teaching incremental measurements to a user of the measuring device. The measuring device comprises a fastener and a plurality of rulers containing graduated markings and rotatably attached to the fastener. Each ruler is positioned to horizontally align and vertically juxtaposed the graduated markings of consecutive rulers. In a preferred embodiment, the sets of graduated markings vary in numerical increment from other sets of graduated markings. Also each ruler varies in color from the other rulers of the measuring device.
The set of graduated markings in each ruler of the measurement device are horizontally aligned such that corresponding lengths within each graduated marking set correspond to the same graduated length in the other rulers of the measuring device. The measuring device can also be designed such that the individual rulers partly overlap but do not obstruct the view a user of the device has to all of the sets of graduated markings. This allows a user of the device to quickly discern how the individual graduated markings dimensionally correspond to other sets of graduated markings comprising the device.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved measuring device for teaching incremental measurements.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a measuring device for teaching fractional relationships between different incremental fractional measurements lengths.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a measuring device that is rotatably hinged about a central location.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a measurement device with various measurement elements that are arrangeable in a stacked formation such that the graduated markings on the measurement elements do not overlap.
Still yet another object of the present invention is to provide a measurement device with various measurement elements that are arrangeable in a stacked formation such that the graduated markings on the measurement elements do not overlap and the markings are in close proximity so as to compare the different graduated markings on the measurement elements.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a measurement device comprising several measurement elements that are rotatably fixable in a position to allow ease of comparison of the graduated markings in the measurement device.
Numerous other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, upon a reading of the following disclosure, when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.